3.31.2009

Simplification

Recently, I acquired an ipod from Brendan. For goodness sakes, what a great gift. Makes my life so much easier. My CD collection was far too extensive and it was very overwhelming. The ipod fixes all those things. Tonight I'm ripping a good portion of my CDs to the computer and then keeping them on the external hard drive and when I want them on my ipod i'll put them there. I have a lot of CDs and this whole ripping process is overwhelming. And I have no idea what to do with my CDs after I'm done with them. They're just taking up space. My sister said she'd look through them and take some of them for herself. The rest I might send to friends in MI. I have no idea. But all I know is that...

It's out with the













and in with the










hooray! couldn't be more excited!

3.28.2009

Waffle Cones and Mix Ins - For Reals?

So I most definitely love working here...





















From the waffle cones, to the dipping, to the mixing and fluffing and the singing. It's generally a wonderful place to work. It's nice to have a fun environment to work in. Where the ice cream is
delicious and fresh. [and I get to sample the ice cream on those tiny spoons everyday.] I'm generally a very outgoing, energetic, customer-service oriented person and it's totally the place for me right now. I love my job. [and the tips are a pretty cool perk too.] Wow. I haven't been able to say that since February?

Speaking of my last job, I miss Wendy's a lot. That was a fun job too. But ice cream is SO much better than fast food. I don't come home smelling like fried food anymore. Hooray!

Instead, I smell like waffle cones and it's delicious.
Most definitely my new perfume.
Hey, Brendan likes it so what can I complain about?

Speaking of Brendan. I will tell you this. I am totally and absolutely in love with him. Developing such a partnership is sure a challenge, but it's fun. I cannot wait to spend my entire life with him. He is phenomenal. He is the most level headed being on this planet. And I'm SO grateful to have such a man in my life.

To quote my nephew. "for reals."

I love my niece and nephew. I don't know what my day would be without them. They provide lots of fun moments and someday I will have children of my own and that's so exciting for me. Having kids around is challenging though. They make you think, and ask you questions all day. And they tell the honest truth when they're questioned. That's the beauty of children. They're honest. And they have no perception of time...oh what it would be like relive my childhood. I was a handful I'm sure. Can you believe we were all that annoying and strange when we were little?

Texas is wonderful and I don't see myself leaving anytime soon. Nothing beats the desert. Even the sand blows like snow on the roads. But I don't have to worry about crashing my car in the sand. Unless of course it were to drift into sand dunes on the road. That would be a bit terrifying. [There I go on some sporadic topic that you probably don't even care about.]

Tonight, Brendan and I took the family up to the scenic drive above the wonderful city of EP. You can see for miles up there. The mountains are truly a sight for me everyday. I'm not used to seeing them yet. They make me smile and appreciate the beauty of mother nature. Truly a blessing.

To close things up, as always, I hope everything is well in Michigan. Missing you all immensely. But I'm also enjoying myself immensely. It's definitely bedtime for me. I like this whole "get back in a schedule" thing. It makes me feel good about myself.

Goodnight friends and family.
LOVE YOU ALL.

3.24.2009

disgusted


alright. i disgusted myself earlier. so i got my grand prix when i was 16. i have been driving it since then. not once have i cleaned the carpeting or the mats or anything. i actually had the motivation today to wash/dry/wax/vacuum/detail/steam clean my car. it was THE most disgusting thing i have done in a while.

thank goodness for the wonderful steam cleaner and a bathtub and bleach.

[ps. this steam cleaner is awesome!]

i now have floor mats that are back to their original color. tomorrow i'm taking on the task of steam cleaning my floors in my car and the seats and all the upholstery. hopefully it'll look like a new car. [although it's not, considering it's almost ten years old.]

i figured i'd do all this now that i'm not smoking anymore. i can actually clean my car and not have any ashes or anything in my car. i think it will be phenomenal.

as far as quitting smoking is going, i'm doing really well, down to about one/two cigarettes a day. i'm excited to start working and not have to put aside money out of my checks for smokes. it will be a good feeling.

i have been cranky though, and i apologize often to those around me. it's not fair, but once i'm done with this habit, the happier i will be.

hope everyone is doing excellent at home. miss you all very very much. hopefully i will get my phone back within the next 2 weeks.

3.22.2009

My brother makes me proud

Congratulations to my little brother. I am very proud of him. Check out this article I found on google.

Hoekstra Nominates 17 Students to U.S. Military Service Academies
West Michigan Students Nominated for the Class of 2013



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Washington, Jan 5 - U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, has nominated 17 students from Michigan’s Second Congressional District to be considered for acceptance into the 2013 class of the U.S. Military, Air Force, Naval and Merchant Marine academies.

“It is a great honor to nominate students from West Michigan for acceptance into the prestigious U.S. service academies,” Hoekstra said. “These young men and women exemplify the highest standards of professional conduct necessary for future leadership positions within the U.S. Armed Forces and the Merchant Marine.”

Hoekstra nominated the following students for the class of 2013:

U.S. Military Academy – West Point, N.Y.
Ryan Lusk (Jenison) – Unity Christian High School

U.S. Naval Academy – Annapolis, Md.
Drew Coffin (Holland) – Zeeland East High School
Courtney Diekema (Holland) – Zeeland East High School
James Galloway (Sparta) – Rockford Senior High School
Hope Potter (Whitehall) – Whitehall High School
Henry Tamminga (Jenison) – Unity Christian High School
Andrew Van Heest (Holland) – West Ottawa High School
Benjamin Wierda (Holland) – Westminster Christian School

U.S. Air Force Academy – Colorado Springs, Colo.
Joe Batchelder (Grand Haven) – Western Michigan Christian High School
Timothy Bowditch (Comstock Park) – Lighthouse Christian Academy
Jared Breuker (Muskegon) – Reeths-Puffer High School
Douglas Brown (Whitehall) – Whitehall High School
Courtney Diekema (Holland) – Zeeland East High School
Anthony Henry (Muskegon) – Muskegon High School
Fred Holwerda III (Hudsonville) – Hudsonville High School
John Lepird (Hamilton) – Hamilton High School
Ryan Lusk (Jenison) – Unity Christian High School
Jason Mulder (Holland) – Holland Christian High School
Seth Schneider (Bear Lake) – Manistee High School

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy – Kings Point, N.Y.
Henry Tamminga (Jenison) – Unity Christian High School

The nominations are based upon a 12-member academy advisory board interview that evaluates such criteria as academic achievement, extracurricular achievement and leadership abilities.

Further information on requirements for nomination and the application process is available on Hoekstra’s Web site at http://hoekstra.house.gov.

A nomination does not guarantee appointment to an academy. It only represents the role of a member of Congress in the process. Before an academy can consider an applicant, it must receive a nomination from an authorized nominating source, one of which is their congressman.


for reference: my brother starts at Kings Point in July.


CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN HENRY!

3.19.2009

Phone

hi everyone. my phone is broken. i didn't do it. something is going wrong in the wiring or something. it keeps turning on and off. so i called alltel. it'll be about another two weeks until i have a new phone again. lame. so if you need to get ahold of me i guess it'll be thru email or something.

3.18.2009

a message to all those i love

3.17.2009

via the request of my mother

here are some photos of the house. and the area surrounding. [desert etc.]
just for all you guys.

this is my home sweet home.

photo 1. the neighborhood from driveway
photo 2. the house [front view]
photo 3. the vast desert [where we go lizard hunting]
photo 4. the thorns in the desert that you have to deal with when lizard hunting
photo 5. the living room
photo 6. the kitchen
photo 7. the shopping centers in EP look like this
photo 8. this is brendan and my room
photo 9. my salt covered car [don't worry dad, i washed it.]
photo 10. the tree looking mighty dead when we got here, it has leaves on it now




3.16.2009

here i go.

on another personal journey. this one will be interesting. i've been a smoker for quite some time. i know this doesn't please some of the people that i love and i don't want to ruin my body anymore. i'm ready to quit. finally. i'm tired of the expense and the risks that are involved. i'm done. i'm trying this...










hopefully it will work. i really really hope it will. i need to be done with this habit that i have been so entwined in. i know that it will damage me and the habit needs to be cut. quick. wish me luck. i am going to need it.

successful day

i went to drop off more job applications today. a few of them sounding very hopeful. i got the chance to have a 1st interview at coldstone icecream [yesss.] sheryl [my interviewer] then scheduled me for a second interview on thursday. i'm very excited. the hours are very simple 10-5 or 11-6 or something like that. fulltime days. and icecream. my favorite. hopefully i get this job. the whole being out of money thing is really getting me down. hope everything is well in michigan, i miss you all and think about you everyday.

blessings.

3.15.2009

slowly catching the drift

of this whole blog thing very slowly. this is a wonderful blog site. the layout of the site itself is so simple and customizable. i'm totally happy that i joined. not only for the moments now, but for the memories later.

texas is absolutely wonderful. i couldn't be enjoying myself more. we've done a lot of fun things. but that doesn't mean that there isn't sadness that comes along with the whole ordeal.

my brother-in-law left for qatar with the united states army this past week. i have never actually had a reason to "support our troops" until now. this video is of the buses leaving after we had all gotten done saying our goodbyes. it was pretty emotional. i was proud of my sister in law and the composure that she held through the whole day.



my niece and nephew know that dad is gone for a long time, but i don't think they can grasp that he's going to be gone for a year. it's been a pretty hard week here. but we're all here together as a team. helping eachother out. brendan has taken the responsibilities of the man in the house. he's doing a great job. i have no doubt that he will be a great father someday.

here are a few photos of the family that hold great value to us. we're a family now. sticking it through everyday. that's why brendan and i are in texas. to help melanie out with the kids and the household. we are her support. hopefully we can hold up our end of the deal.

























nate is missed greatly but we are holding up the household pretty well. just your everyday joys and everyday struggles.

that's all for tonight.
the kids are in the corner crying.
time to take control.

¡hola de paso el-, texas!






















buenas tardes ladies and gentlemen. after a lot of time and consideration, i have decided to take up a blog of my journeys here in el paso, texas. it may be somewhat of a hassle for me to update, but i'm sure my fellow people would love to hear of the adventures that i have bestowed upon.


to start off, i must say, it was a journey.

since september my husband and i have been looking forward to embarking on the journey of a lifetime. due to some exclusive events in michigan, we were unable to leave before february.

one of these events happened to be my marriage to the love of my life on january 16, 2009. i wanted to celebrate with friends and family in michigan. so that was one deciding factor in our ETD. [estimated time of departure for those who were wondering...] we had a beautiful union in the courthouse. saved us a bunch of money. it's all the same anyway. who cares if we are united in front of a church or in front of a magistrate. what meant the most is that we are in love and we dedicated our lives to one another. it was beautiful and that's all i wanted. the union of two people. always a special gift.

after all of the exclusive events happened, brendan and i left for el paso, tx on february 22, 2009 with a whirlwind of excitement. of course, with our karma, we left in a blizzard. but that's michigan for you. that blizzard proceeded to follow us all the way to oklahoma. i was relieved when i started seeing open, non-snow covered ground and gas prices as low as $1.54.

considering i'm the only one with a driver's license in this situation, i was more than enthused to arrive in texas. after 22 hours of straight driving, we arrived at destination paradise. eyes bloodshot, brain in a twisted mess, but alas we arrived. let me tell you one thing, going from a 15 degree blizzard to an 86 degree sun-filled day does something funny to a person.

even though i was tired as all get out, my mood immediately jumped. taking into consideration that i hadn't seen the sun in what felt like a decade. beyond that, i got to reunite with my sister and brother in law and her two beautiful children.

finally squeezed some sleep in and rejuvinated my soul.
it's been a whirlwind of events that i will have to share with you in individual posts.
for the reason that this post is getting gargantuan.
i will tell you one thing right now, we're here to stay.

welcome to paradise.